For What?
When I am brainstorming ideas about how to support educators or youth… one of the questions that is simple, sometimes infuriating, but always important is “For what?” While simple, this question always takes me back to purpose and objective. Why am I doing this? Will it support our associates better at CT3? Can we make […]
Why I Quit Special Ed…and Am Proud of It.
As a special educator, I dedicated my career to advocating, supporting, and loving my students. Students who not only needed someone to believe in them, but someone to help others see just how much they had to offer. I began my career as a special education teacher, behavior specialist, and diagnostician. I eventually progressed to […]
The Complexity of Nurturing and Showing We Care
Effective educators profoundly understand that “nurturing” scholars means demonstrating “care.” Many teachers may misunderstand “care” as unconditional praise, downshifting expectations for scholars…
The Power of Positive Narration
Positive Narration is the act of focusing on what students are doing correctly and openly saying those things aloud to help motivate students and provide a more positive classroom culture. Don’t underestimate the role of positive narration and its range of influence on establishing, developing, and maintaining positive and productive classroom culture and climate. Below […]
It’s Not the Students…It’s Us.
It’s not the students. It’s us. The evidence from CT3’s work suggests that educators formulate their cultural responsiveness through connections with the people, places and experiences that reciprocate value. If we do not value the output we are getting from students and our coaches do not push us to own our areas of growth, students can […]
I’m a Better Teacher Now Than I’ve Ever Been…
I teach everything from kids with horrifically unfortunate home lives to those with two parents and who live in million dollar homes (in my area that’s a very fine home). We serve them all and we love them all, not that it’s always easy. Especially for struggling teachers. Teachers in their first few years often […]
Coach’s Corner: School’s (Always) In Session
Here we are at the end of July and summer is again flying by. Since my very first year teaching, the thing I hated to hear most from non-educators was, “Wow, summers off. Good for you.” Well, I never actually figured out how to have a summer “off”. I always had graduate classes, taught summer […]
Every Kid Deserves World-Class Supports…
I have been blessed to serve as a public school educator for about 15 years. I have worked in foster homes, Detention Centers and in 3 different large public high schools, both with urban needs as well as suburban youth. My No-Nonsense Nurturer® (NNN) training came when I was the building principal at Princeton High School in […]
At Its Core, Teaching is About Relationships.
Why are teacher relationships so important? Education has always been a rich source for personal experiences, both good and sad. As I celebrate my 30th year as an educator, my last 10 years as an instructional leader improving Title 1 schools, I can’t help but reflect on my experience as a new teacher. In my […]
The Game-Changer
Teachers need to have the consistency and precision of an elite world-class athlete to be effective. Students need structure and predictability from adults that work in their schools in order to thrive – the No-Nonsense Nurturer® (NNN) program provides this. Each educator uses the same “playbook” and kids “win” because the environment is conducive to […]
